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President’s Office planning 60 bills for first days of parliament The President’s Office of Ukraine is planning to submit for approval about 60 bills in the first days of the autumn parliamentary session, the capital.uanews site reported on August 20, citing an anonymous source in the office. The office’s leadership mentioned this goal to Ukrainian President Zelenskiy during a recent meeting and is determined to fulfill it, the source said. The list of bills is currently being drafted, and most of them haven’t yet undergone the necessary procedures for registration, the source said. Some MPs of The People’s Servant party may be upset that the office drafted the bills without their involvement, the source said. The first session of the ninth convocation of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will convene on August 29.
Naftogaz and Ukrzaliznytsia are “monsters that must be killed and dismembered,” Oleg Ustenko, President Zelensky’s official ‘Macroeconomic Policy Adviser,’ said on Radio NV. In addition to cutting up the state railroad and state oil and gas company, Ustenko said Ukrspyrt, the state alcohol company, and the State Food and Grain Corporation should be privatized. Separately, Oleksiy Honcharuk, deputy presidential chief of staff, has said that all of Ukraine’s state banks should be privatized and that minority shares in Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukrposhta, the state post office, should be put up for sale. With a privatization revolution brewing, Andriy Kobolyev, CEO of Naftogaz, says the new Rada should allow a Naftogaz IPO.
Trump requests review of $250mn program for Ukrainian military US President Trump has asked his national security team to review a $250mn funding program for the Ukrainian military, a senior White House official told the politico.com news site on August 28. For the 2019 fiscal year, US legislators allocated these funds as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to pay for weapons, training, equipment and intelligence support. Specifically, Congress set aside $50mn for weaponry, the news site reported. The senior White House official said President Trump wants to ensure US interests are being prioritized when it comes to foreign assistance and is seeking assurances that other countries are “paying their fair share.” Defense Secretary Mark Esper and National Security Adviser John Bolton are among the officials reviewing the Ukraine security funding.
Donbas warfare needs to resolved in six months, Prystaiko says Oleh Prystaiko, Ukraine’s new foreign minister, said he will set the task for his diplomatic corps to make significant progress in resolving the warfare in Donbas in the next six months. “Right now it’s not so important how we will do this, whether by means of involving peacekeeping missions or fulfilling the Minsk Accords. What’s critically important is another matter – that we have a half- year for this. I am targeting the diplomatic service for this half-year term,” he said in his address to parliament on August 29 just before the vote to approve him as foreign minister. In the next stage of resolving the conflict in Donbas, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy will propose a series of compromise steps, primarily aimed at renewing ties with our own people that ended up on the other side of the front lines, Prystaiko said in his remarks to parliament. Significant efforts have already been made to restart the process of exchanging prisoners, the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge is being renewed,
16 UKRAINE Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com